Incinerator

ABSTRACT

An improved maintenance system in a pyrometric cone incinerator having a conical basketlike hollow body located in a housing and having perforated walls. The basketlike hollow body is positioned rotatably about an axis inclined at an angle to the horizontal line and has an obliquely upwardly directed large feed opening and an obliquely downwardly directed smaller discharge opening. The discharge opening is aligned with a bar cage attached to the lower end of the conical body and coaxial therewith. The outer end of the bar cage is rotatably supported on a suitable bearing which supports the body and the bar cage on a portable frame. An access door is provided in the lower axial discharge opening of the conical body. An operating means including an operating shaft extends axially outwardly from the access door through the bar cage, drive means and bearing means to an external operating handle.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Fritz Schoppe I I Max-Ruettgeis-Strasse 24, 8026 Ebenhausen, Germany [21] Appl. No. 7 826,130 [22] Filed May 20, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 17, 1971 [54] INCINERATOR 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 110/8 R, l 10/ 14 [51] Int. Cl. F23g 5/06 [50] Field of Search 110/8, 14

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,433,186 3/1969 Koecher 110/14 1,835,147 12/1931 Drew 110/14 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,043,037 9/1966 Great Britain 1 10/14 ABSTRACT: An improved maintenance system in a pyrometric cone incinerator having -a conical basketlike hollow body located in a housing and having perforated walls. The basketlike hollow body is positioned rotatably about an axis inclined at an angle to the horizontal line and has an obliquely up-,

wardly directed large feed opening and an obliquely downwardly directed smaller discharge opening. The discharge opening is aligned with a bar cage attached to the lower end of the conical body and coaxial therewith. The outer end of the bar cage is rotatably supported on a suitable bearing which supports the body and the bar cage on a portable frame. An access door is provided in the lower axial discharge opening of the conical body. An operating means including an operating shaft extends axially outwardly from the access door through the bar cage, drive means and bearing means to an external operating handle.

PATENTED AUG] mm SHEET 1 BF 2 3 m 2. M 3 W5 2 w mw H a INCINERATOR cRoss REFERENCE To RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 825,865, filed May 19, 1969, entitled Incinerator."

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to incinerators and, in particular, improvements in a rotating pyrometric cone for incinerating waste material or garbage. These improvements are directed to a more convenient discharge access means for cleaning the cone between periods of use, and to a carriage support to provide convenient access for other maintenance of the cone.

2. Description of the Prior Art In a metal-melting furnace it already is prior art (German Patent 535,870) to position a spherical slopingly positioned crucible in overhung position by fastening a narrow rim and an axle stub to the closed lower end of the crucible end whereby the narrow rim bears down on supporting rollers and aframe and the axle stub is maintained in a rotating bearing on the frame- However, on its side facing the bearing means the crucible is not provided with a bar cage, so there is no suggestion that the bars of the bar cage be connected rigidly at their lower end with a stiff carrier plate. However, that is an important structural feature of theincinerator installation according to the invention.

In addition, in .an incinerator according to prior art (German petty patent 1,922,626), a bar cage is connected to an axle of relatively large diameter which passes through the rear housing wall and is positioned there by means of a ball bearing connection to a frame. The application of a ball bearing connection for the specific purpose of positioning a relatively heavy hollow body centrifugally at its end, however, proved to have disadvantages. In using ball bearing connections, the deformation of the rotating part by forces transverse to the axis of rotation and by thermal deformation due to heat must not exceed very narrow tolerances. In practical operations, particularly in case of medium and large size incinerator installations, it has been found that a certain heat transfer from the hollow body into the bearings can never be avoided and that only slight excessive temperatures lead to binding of the bearings. Another difficulty in the application of ball bearings for the purpose described resides in the fact that the weight of the hollow body and of the materials to be incinerated therein was heretofore transmitted to individual points of connection with the raceway of the ball bearing which deformed the raceway and caused failure of the device. Consequently, the above mentioned large diameter axle was inserted between the bar cage and the bearing, said axle having to be sufficiently elastic on the one hand in order to distribute the concentrated load extending from the bars over the periphery of the bearing, but on the other hand said axle must be sufficiently rigid so as not to deform too much under the load. The necessity for an intermediate .tructural parts leads to a considerable added construction expense.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, the bars of the bar cage are fastened directly to a circular supporting plate with a track at its outer circumference. The track of the supporting carrier plate bears down on supporting rollers preferably disposed on the frame. The carrier plate has another carrier part connected thereto for rotation coaxially about the axis of rotation of the hollow body. This latter carrier part is held in a bearing arranged on the frame with its end facing away from the carrier plate, whereby the operating means for the discharge opening access door is guided through the bearing, the latter carrier part and the carrier plate.

In the incinerator'apparatus according to the invention the forces oriented transversely to the axis of rotation are transmitted substantially from the track of the supporting carrier plate to the supporting rollers. The supporting carrier plate has sufficient rigidity so that'it can absorb the concentrated loads transmitted from the bars of the bar cage. Even if the carrier plate should deform slightly under load conditions or due to heat deformation, the load bearing function is not affected because of the location of the cylindrical supporting rollers at the cylindrical periphery of the carrier plate. To the extend that deformation of the carrier plate is inevitable, any offset of the axis of rotation is compensated in the bearing. The elimination of an intermediate element between the bar cage and the bearing means and the use of fewer and simpler construction elements in the bearing means itself provides an extremely rugged and efficient positioning means which is relatively immune to temperature extremes.

An afterburner is provided on the fixed housing wherein secondary air is forced into the afterburner chamber and is sucked into the incinerator zone, cooling the exhaust'stack as it is drawn into the zone and providing additional air for increasing the extent of the combustion in the zone.

An embodiment of the invention is explained below in relation to the drawing.

FIG. 1 shows'a schematic vertical section through an incinerator installation;

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the incinerator installation with the housing partly removed;

FIG. 3 is a partial elevational view in section of an afterburner in position on the housing of the incinerator;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectionalview taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 is a partial top plan view similar to FIG. 2 only showing the location of the afterburner relative to the hollow body of the incinerator. v

In the drawing is shown my improved incinerator installation used primarily for theincineration of garbage and other solid and waste materialsThe principle part of the apparatus is a tubular or conically shaped, preferably perforated, hollow body 2 positioned in a rotary manner around an imaginary axis of rotation. The axis of rotation A forms an angle with the horizontal plane such that the lower line of the jacket of the conical hollow body extends horizontally 'or in a slightly ascending manner in relation to the apex of the cone. The jacket of the hollow body 2 is provided with perforations through which the combustion residues are separated, and by means of air-feeding apparatus (not shown) combustion air can be blown in through grates into the combustion chamber. During thecombustion process, the hollow body 2 is enclosed in a housing 3 whose front wall 4, top wall 5 and sidewalls 6 are indicated in the drawing by broken lines. The rear wall of the housing is identified by the member 8 and is provided with a heat-insulating layer 9.

The material to be incinerated is introduced into the hollow body 2 by means of a feed opening 10. The larger unburnable residues leave the hollow body 2 by way of a discharge opening 1 1. Within the area of the feed opening 10 the hollow body 2 is provided with a cylindrical section Zaand a counter-cone 2b which increases the capacity of the hollow body 2.

The discharge opening 11 is surrounded by a ring-shaped member 12 to which are fastened the ends of the bars l3a-d of the bar cage 13. The bars of the bar cage 13 pass through an opening 14 in the rear housing wall 8 which wall is sharply bent forward in a section 8a. The outer ends of the bars of the bar cage 13 are fastened outside the rear wall to a rigid circular carrier plate 15. On its surface facing the interior of the housing the carrier plate 15 is provided .with an insulation layer 16 which is thick enough to fill and seal the opening 14 in the wall 80. A tapered sleeve 17 having a cylindrical terminal section 17a is connected at the outer side of the carrier plate 15. v

The carrier plate 15 forms a track with its cylindrical peripheral surface 15a by which the carrier plate bears down on cylindrical support rollers 18. The rollers 18 in turn are positioned by means of bearing studs projecting from an angular cross beam 19 of a frame generally identified by 20. A yoke 21 is fastened to the cross beam 19, said yoke carrying a selfaligning bearing 22. The self-aligning bearing 22 engages around the cylindrical terminal section 17a of the sleeve 17 and is held in the yoke 21 by ridges 21a.

The frame 20 is movable by means of the rollers 23 rotatably mounted on the respective end portions of the sides 20a. The frame carries the hollow body with all bearing parts and the rear housing wall 8 as well as the support rollers 18. by means of the cross beam 19. The frame 20 has the lateral sides 20a spaced so as to ride outside the housing 3, while the housing 3 embraces the hollow body 2 when the frame and hollow body are in operating position. As the drawing clearly shows, it is possible to move the hollow body 2 with all bearing parts out of the housing 3 rearward by means of the portable or movable frame 20. The rollers 23 are positioned outside of the incinerating zone of the housing 3.

The rotation of the hollow body 2 is provided by an electric motor 24 which has a worm gear 25 driving a worm wheel 26 fastened to the outer tapered wall of the sleeve 17. The electric motor 24 is mounted on the cross beam 19.

For closing and opening the discharge opening 11, a spherical or dome-shaped closing means 27 is used which by means of an operating spindle 28 and an outer handwheel 29 can be moved coaxially to the axis of rotation A. The axis of rotation of the spindle 28 passes through the bearing 22, sleeve 17a, carrier plate 15, the insulating liner 16 and the bar cage 13. In one form of the invention, matching threads are formed on the spindle 28 and in the sleeve 17a for providing the forward and rearward movement as the handwheel 29 is rotated.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in the drawing. The hollow body 2 may have another shape, for example by being designed as a basket, bulb or sphere. Although a cone of the kind described offers the advantage that a demixing takes place in the combustion zone which promotes the incinerating operation, the invention alsocan be used in all those cases where a simple recirculation of the material to be burned takes place in the hollow body. It is essential that all bearing parts be located outside the housing or out of the incinerating zone. In smaller equipment, provisions may be made to eliminate the portable frame 20 by positioning the support rollers 18 and the cross beam 19 on the rear wall.

The rear wall is then designed as a trap door so that the entire combustion assembly can be moved out of the housing by opening the door. Various combinations of the described designs are imaginable, where the cross beam 19 is located on the frame, while the support rollers 18 are positioned directly at the sharply bent section 8a of the rear wall. The tapered sleeve 17 also may be replaced by a sleeve with reinforcement ribs or by a bar cage. The dome-shaped closing means 27 also may be operated hydraulically or pneumatically. In that case, the operating spindle 28 is replaced by a pressure conduit. The self-aligning ball bearing 22 shown in the drawing also may be replaced by an ordinary roller or friction bearing positioned in a rubber casing or in some other manner so that it can oscillate to a certain extent.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate a flow pattern in an afterburner 50 for use in conjunction with the incinerator structure of FIGS. 1 and 2. The afterburner 50 has a chamber 51 defined by a somewhat conically shaped stack 52 to which is secured a tangential secondary air intake member 54 upon which is mounted a dome-shaped cover portion 56. The portion 56 has an exhaust gas outlet 58 and encloses an outwardly flared diffuser member 60 having an upper wall 62 which is located at or above the top inside surface of the exhaust gas outlet 58. The stack portion 52 of the afterburner 50 has a flange 64 on its outer surface for bolting the afterburner to the top wall 5 of the housing by means of bolts into flange 65 on the sleeve 66 forming the wall of the opening into the housing. The conically shaped stack portion 52 projects downwardly into the housing 1 and has its lower end portion cut off at an angle to provide an opening 68 which lies in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the opening of the hollow body 2. The opening 68 is shown as a dashed circle in FIG. 5 and is located in a position to overlap the portion of the feed opening of the ho]- low body 2 on that side of the feed opening toward which the lower portion of the hollow body rotates. The opening 68 is located in such a way that as the hollow body is rotated, the burning materials in the hollow body will tend to climb up the wall of the hollow body underneath the opening 68 of the stack. The tumbling of the burning materials beneath the opening in the stack of the afterburner will contribute to the afterburning effect created by the stack.

The tangential secondary air intake member 54 has a flared inlet opening 70 leading into a sleeve 72 across which is pivotally mounted a damper 74 actuated by an external crank 76 which crank is adapted to be locked in any selected position whereby the damper will not move until released. One wall 78 of the sleeve 72, as shown in FIG. 4, is shaped to form a tangential inlet spiral to a stream of air into the circular casing 80. The stack 52 intersects the bottom wall 82 of the easing to define an opening 84 between the stack and the air intake member 54. The upper wall 86 of the casing 80 supports the smaller end of the diffuser member 60 so that the opening 88 in the wall 86 permits communication between casing 80, the inside of the diffuser 60, the inside of the dome 56 and the exhaust gas outlet 58. A blower 90 of suitable construction has its outlet aligned with the inlet opening 70 of the air intake member 54 whereby air can be forced into the member 54 for afterburning in the incinerator. The blower output is controlled as well as the degree of opening of the damper 74 so as to vary the volume of air admitted to the afterburner 50. With good draft, blower 90 is not needed.

A burner 92 with a supplemental blower 94 is provided on the housing 1 and projects through wall 4 in such a location as to project the flame into the hollow body 2 at a location just clearing between the lip of the body 2 and the opening 68 in the afterburner stack 52. Other types of heat sources could be used if desired. In addition, no blower 94 would be needed if there was either sufficient natural draft out the exhaust 58 to pull the flame into the hollow body 2 or if a blower is provided in the exhaust 58 to pull the flame into the body 2.

As a result of low pressure in the hollow body 2 and as a result of the flood of air from the intake member 54, the secondary inlet air (designatedby arrows 96) is sucked down along the wall of the stack 52 into the opening of the hollow body 2. Since the stack 52 enlarges as it approaches the housing 1, the air will rotate and swirl along the wall toward the body 2. The inlet member 54 is designed so that the tangentially moving air will cause a negative pressure at the center of the casing 80 which negative pressure draws hot gases up from the incinerating zone in the hollow body 2. The result is that the downwardly spiraling inlet air flows radially inward into the hollow body opening and returns vertically upward through the stack, casing 80, diffuser 60 where it expands and exhausts out the outlet 58.

Due to the volume flow of inlet air into the combu tion zone where the material is being violently agitated by rotating the hollow body and where the blast of hot flames is penetrating into the material, extremely high incinerating temperatures are created which assures odorless burning of the material. Due to the turbulence created by the intense high temperature burning, dust and ash are caused to whirl around. However, the downward flow of inlet air prevents the dust and ash from settling on the walls of the housing or stack and, in fact, reincinerates the dust and ash so as to cause them to drop into the fire and out through the grates.

The wall of inlet air flowing down inside the stack 52 keeps the stack cool adding to its useful life.

In operation with the afterburner in position on the housing 1, the burner is lighted to start the incineration of the load of material in the body 2. As the body is rotated and the incineration commences, secondary air is blown into the secondary air member 54 whereby the low pressure in the hollow body will suck the secondary air down the inner walls in a spiral toward the incineration chamber. The secondary air will supplement the burning and the agitation within the body so that the heated exhaust gases will be propelled up the center of the stack 52 through the secondary air member 54 and out the exhaust gas outlet. The secondary air will serve to cool the afterburner stack, at the same time it aids in the combustion and the removal of the exhaust gases in the incineration chamber.

Iclaim: v

l; in a pyrometric incinerator for disposing of combustible wastes, said incinerator comprising in combination, a housing having top, front and sidewalls, a hollow body being at least partially tubular in shape and being mounted on a carriage for movement into and out of said housing, said hollow body having a continuous peripheral wall with an obliquely upwardly disposed axial feed opening and an obliquely downwardly disposed axial discharge opening, means in the walls of said hollow body for enabling penetration of combustion energy through said wall into the hollow body, support means on said carriage for rotatably supporting said hollow body for rotation about an axis inclined upwardly from a horizontal plane, remotely operated closure means for said discharge opening, and afterburner means mounted on the top wall of said housing and having an opening lying in closely spaced relation with for varying the volume of air admitted and means for locking said damper means in a preselected position.

respect to the feed opening in said hollow body, the opening of said afterburner means overlying a portion of the feed opening of said hollow body on that side of the feed opening toward which the lower portion of the hollow body rotates, a secondary air intake means for feeding air into the afterburner means and down the inside wall of the afterburner as into the hollow body, diffuser means in said afterburner means carried by said I secondary air intake means for receiving hot exhaust gases from the hollow body through the center of said secondary air intake means, and an exhaust gas outlet mounted on said afterburner means in the vicinity of the diffuser for discharging said hot exhaust gases after they pass through said diffuser.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which means are provided for forcing secondary air into said air intake means.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which an externally operated damper means is provided in said secondary air intake means 4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which a heat source is mounted on the wall of the housing for projecting a jet of flame into said feed opening of said hollow body and said secondary inlet air mixes with said flame to generate a high temperature heat source for incinerating material in said body.

5.,In a pyrometric incinerator for disposing of combustible wastes, said incinerator comprising in combination, a furnace enclosure having at least one relatively movable portion, a generally tubular hollow body normally disposed in the furnace enclosure receiving waste material, said hollow body having a continuous peripheral wall comprising grate means for supporting wastes during combustion, said hollow body having an obliquely upwardly disposed axial feed opening and an obliquely downwardly disposed axial discharge opening, said grate means extending entirely around the peripheral wall to enable penetration of combustion energy through the wall to incinerate wastes contained in the hollow body, cantilevered support means for rotatably supporting said hollow body for rotation about an axis inclined upwardly from a horizontal plane, said support means carrying the relatively movable portion of said furnace enclosure to provide clear access means to the incinerator for maintenance and repairs, means for rotating said hollow body about said inclined axis, a generally cylindrical bar cage member extending coaxially rearward in a downward direction from the discharge opening end of the hollow body and having lateral support bars providing access through the bar cage member and the discharge I opening into the hollow body for removing combustion residues, closure means for the discharge opening, operating means connected to said closure means to enable remote operation of the closure means for said discharge opening, and afterburner means aligned with the opening of the hollow body, secondary air intake means in said afterburner for feeding air down the inside walls thereof into the hollow body, and an exhaust gas outlet on said afterburner for discharging exhaust gases from said hollow body. 

1. In a pyrometric incinerator for disposing of combustible wastes, said incinerator comprising in combination, a housing having top, front and sidewalls, a hollow body being at least partially tubular in shape and being mounted on a carriage for movement into and out of said housing, said hollow body having a continuous peripheral wall with an obliquely upwardly disposed axial feed opening and an obliquely downwardly disposed axial discharge opening, means in the walls of said hollow body for enabling penetration of combustion energy through said wall into the hollow body, support means on said carriage for rotatably supporting said hollow body for rotation about an axis inclined upwardly from a horizontal plane, remotely operated closure means for said discharge opening, and afterburner means mounted on the top wall of said housing and having an opening lying in closely spaced relation with respect to the feed opening in said hollow body, the opening of said afterburner means overlying a portion of the feed opening of said hollow body on that side of the feed opening toward which the lower portion of the hollow body rotates, a secondary air intake means for feeding air into the afterburner means and down the inside wall of the afterburner as into the hollow body, diffuser means in said afterburner means carried by said seconDary air intake means for receiving hot exhaust gases from the hollow body through the center of said secondary air intake means, and an exhaust gas outlet mounted on said afterburner means in the vicinity of the diffuser for discharging said hot exhaust gases after they pass through said diffuser.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which means are provided for forcing secondary air into said air intake means.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which an externally operated damper means is provided in said secondary air intake means for varying the volume of air admitted and means for locking said damper means in a preselected position.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which a heat source is mounted on the wall of the housing for projecting a jet of flame into said feed opening of said hollow body and said secondary inlet air mixes with said flame to generate a high temperature heat source for incinerating material in said body.
 5. In a pyrometric incinerator for disposing of combustible wastes, said incinerator comprising in combination, a furnace enclosure having at least one relatively movable portion, a generally tubular hollow body normally disposed in the furnace enclosure receiving waste material, said hollow body having a continuous peripheral wall comprising grate means for supporting wastes during combustion, said hollow body having an obliquely upwardly disposed axial feed opening and an obliquely downwardly disposed axial discharge opening, said grate means extending entirely around the peripheral wall to enable penetration of combustion energy through the wall to incinerate wastes contained in the hollow body, cantilevered support means for rotatably supporting said hollow body for rotation about an axis inclined upwardly from a horizontal plane, said support means carrying the relatively movable portion of said furnace enclosure to provide clear access means to the incinerator for maintenance and repairs, means for rotating said hollow body about said inclined axis, a generally cylindrical bar cage member extending coaxially rearward in a downward direction from the discharge opening end of the hollow body and having lateral support bars providing access through the bar cage member and the discharge opening into the hollow body for removing combustion residues, closure means for the discharge opening, operating means connected to said closure means to enable remote operation of the closure means for said discharge opening, and afterburner means aligned with the opening of the hollow body, secondary air intake means in said afterburner for feeding air down the inside walls thereof into the hollow body, and an exhaust gas outlet on said afterburner for discharging exhaust gases from said hollow body. 